Never miss a drop

Ever been handed a beer glass that wasn’t filled all the way to top? Of course.

Ever wondered how much, exactly, short of a pint that is? Finding out can be a simple matter, thanks to the Beer Gauge, a product I learned about from @beer_brewer.

The Beer Gauge Web site urges people to, “Ask yourself the following:”

Is your bartender sloppy, cavalier, or imprecise when pouring your favorite micro-brew, or is he just trying to increase his profit margin?

The site explains in alarming detail the risk you take in not having your glass filled all the way:

As it turns out, the majority of the volume in a standard US pint glass is in the relatively small height in the top part of the glass. In fact, if a beer is poured to within about 1/2 inch from the top, 13% of the beer is GONE. If the beer is poured to about one inch from the top of the glass, an astonishing 25% of the beer is missing from your pint.

The gauge, it says, was developed by “a team of international scientists (and beer connoisseurs).”

TONIGHT IN HOUSTON: It’s tap night at the Flying Saucer downtown, beginning at 7. This week’s choice is Dogfish Head Burton Baton.

Count me out. I don’t want my glass filled to the rim. All it does is slop out, nor am I going to hold up a line while I quibble about .375″ they left out like I’m some old person arguing with a cashier over 5 cents.

True story, and it’s not my intention to pick on the Petrol Station, quite the opposite. In fact, my PS bar tabs will bear this out. However, as a lover of great American craft beers (and cash paying customer), I want very close to a full pint when it is served in a pint glass. When you pay $6 to $10 for a premium beer, the last thing you want is to be handed a pint glass with 1/2 to 3/4 inch already gone. That’s 2 to 3 good gulps of beer! Honestly, 99/100 you will get a good tall pour from most craft beer establishments, PS included, but having a Beer Gauge at the ready to inform and teach wayward bartenders, you gotta admit, is priceless.

He’s referring to an Imperial Pint. Here’s an formal definition from wisegeek.com:

An imperial pint is a unit of measurement equivalent to 20 fluid ounces, 568 milliliters, or 1.2 US pints. Imperial pints most commonly crop up in the world of bartending, where beverages continue to be served in imperial pint glasses in some regions.